Friday, January 05, 2007

Wonderful wonderful dirt!!!!!

Well I gave in last night and ate animal flesh. We had Beer Bratwurst for dinner and I couldn't stand it anymore. I was weak and dizzy and shaky and not thinking clearly. Once I had the meat though it was a very short time before I was feeling back to my normal self. Today I will start over again, but were having roast tonight and I plan to eat that with my family.

There won't be enough grant money left after catching up some bills to buy supplies for selling so were going to wait on our tax return which should be more than sufficient. This is not such a bad thing really since its better to start selling later in the year. The best time for sales is early spring through mid fall. There is enough money to get the digging done though. We have decided to build the Earth Oven before building the walls that way the walls will be formed around the oven itself. There will also be money to buy what few supplies we will need to build the Cord Wood storage building near the dig site. The most expensive part of the storage building will be the 4x4 pieces of wood for the frame. Everything else, including the brick for the floor we already have. These will come from the man on Pine Twist road (1/2 mile from our home) who mills cedar as a hobby. He sells them for 6 dollars a piece and they are absolutely stunning to look at. I love the site and smell of red cedar sooo much. I'm guessing what Bear wants to build will probably be 24 by 18 or something like that. He hasn't discussed the roof. I'm really hoping I can talk him into a living roof. He wants to build a cute little front porch on the shed that I can put potted plants and hanging baskets on and I have this vision of a roof covered in bright green moss and stunning red nasturtiums.

I'm going to suggest to Bear that we also use the building to store the cleaner he will sell also since the one we currently have is beginning to be a growing concern. We put it up 5 years ago. I told Bear it was in a bad spot and that water coming down the hill was going to run right into it every time we got a heavy rain. I was right. Everything we put in there has to be a foot off the ground to prevent being damaged by the 6 inches of water that fills the shed during every heavy rain. The floor in its completely rotten. The building itself is made of metal. It was one of those cheap prefab ones. it also has no insulation and we don't know if the new formula we will be working with can freeze. Bear has to ask the chemist about that. Our old one could freeze without the ingredients being altered but I don't know if this new one can. Sometimes the chemicals will separate.

There are still some trees around the foundation that have to come down before digging can be completed and one of Bear's bosses is going to loan him his chainsaw to do this with. It would take hours to cut them own with an Ax and I don't think either one of our backs could take that kind of abuse. Isn't that a wonderful thing for him to do.

I'm surprised at how anxious Bear is to get started on this. He mentioned the other day that he is looking forward to the days getting longer so he can work out there after he gets off work.

I walked back there today and gathered a lump of wet clay from one of the piles of dirt and made a ball with it in my hand. This is called a drop test and its to see what quality the dirt you have is. You make a ball with the clay and drop it from shoulder height and see what the impact does to it. It should stay in a ball shape with little crumbling or changing shape. I made the ball and dropped it front shoulder height, then as high as my head, then I threw it up in the air a couple of feet above my head. All with the same results. The ball is only flattened slightly on the side it hits the ground on. No breaking, cracks, or crumbling. We have such good dirt :)

About Me

I am a Pagan and practicing Witch. I study herbal medicine. I live in the Ozark foot hills with two step kids, a very spoiled city slicker husband that I've spent years converting to a more nature friendly country person. Its hard work but somebody has to do it. We're currently building an Earthbag house on our 7 1/2 acres and I home school my 12 year old stepson.